f the knife with the left hand
and bringing it down on the little heap of herbs with the right, always
gathering them together as fast as the chopping scatters them. Five
minutes will chop a tablespoonful of mint or parsley almost to pulp. A
sharp steel knife and a small board must be used, not the
chopping-bowl.

French books often direct so much _fine herbs_ to be used; English books
mean the same thing when they call for "sweet herbs," and a mixture of
one part marjoram, two parts thyme, and three parts parsley is meant by
both.

The grating of a lemon is a most simple operation, and it may seem that
every one must know how to do it; but this is far from being the case.
As many dishes of curdled custards and sauces are caused by this fact,
the right way in this case is very important. The object of using grated
rind of lemon is to obtain the fragrance and flavor, which differ very
greatly from any extracts, however good. Now the whole of the oil which
contains this fragrance is at the surface--is, in fact, the yellow
portion of the rind; therefore this, and only this, must be removed with
the grater. The white part underneath is bitter, and will cause milk or
cream to curdle, but it contains no particle of lemon flavor. Yet when
lemon flavor is called for the lemon is often grated right down to the
pulp in parts, while the yellow rind is left on in patches.

A lemon should be grated evenly, beginning at the end and working round
it, using as small a surface of the grater as possible, to prevent
waste. The habit of turning the lemon as you grate comes as easily as to
turn an apple under the knife when peeling. Generally twice across the
grater and back between each turn will remove all the essential oil,
but, while guarding against grating too deeply, care must be taken to
remove the whole of the yellow surface. A well-grated lemon should be
exactly of the same shape as before, have no deep scores into the pith,
and have an oily-looking surface.

Perhaps before proceeding to the preparation of the combination dishes
known as made dishes or entrees, a few words may be useful to those
readers whose ambition to accomplish results may cause them to defeat
their own ends. To such I would say, go slowly; never attempt the more
difficult thing until the simpler one is beyond chance of failure. Thus
in following the instructions in this book the wiser women will have
accomplished, perhaps, each week one or two things they